Death
Death was the embodiment of the end of all things and the entity that all living things are fated to meet one day when he came to ferry them from the mortal world into the next realm. Overview Dante encountered Death in Acre after he was stabbed in the back by an assassin. Time came to a stop and Death appeared, informing Dante that he will suffer from everlasting damnation for his sins. Death told Dante to come with him to Hell. Dante, refusing to believe that he could be damned for his actions as his bishop told him that they are in the service of God chose to deny his fate and fought Death in a tunnel between the mortal world and the spiritual world. Though Death came close to finishing him, Dante managed to wound and take Death's Scythe and quickly used it to kill the Grim Reaper, slicing him in half, releasing the millions of souls that he claimed over the course of history. After defeating Death, Dante kept his scythe and used it as his weapon for the rest of his journey to Florence and through Hell itself. Appearance Death is a charred black skeleton with silver pitiless human eyes, a sliced mouth, a robe made from darkness with horns, a golden sash and a scythe with a skull made from gold Quotes * "Dante, your fate is decided: everlasting damnation for your sins." * "Come, face eternity; soon you will be joined by those whose lives you have ruined, whose souls you have damned." * "Mortal, you are mine!" * "No one can cheat Death!" * "You think you can cheat Death?!" * "Let me take you..." * "Your soul is mine!" * "Face your sins, Dante!" * "Your time has come!" * "You cannot win this..." * "How dare you resist me, mortal!" * "Impossible!" - When taking his Scythe * "Help me!" ''- After taking his Scythe * ''"Back away..." - After taking his Scythe * "Stop! I can help you!" - After taking his Scythe * "No! No, please don't!" - Death's last words * "No! No, please!" ''- Death's last words Strategy Even though he is only the first boss, Death can easily put up a rather impressive fight and will teleport rapidly around the arena to avoid attacks and disorient Dante. He has a few attacks; the first is his basic slash combo. Death will either try to attack the player once or three times, either way, the response is the same; his attacks can simply be dodged or blocked. For this boss battle, dodging is your better option as Death’s scythe gives him quite a bit of reach. It should be noted that none of Death's attacks can break the player's block. Death also has a whirlwind attack, where he will unleash his scythe to spin around in a wild circle. This should be blocked. Death will telegraph this attack by twirling his scythe over his head. After a certain portion of Death’s health is depleted (about 1/3 of the boss gauge), he will acquire two new attacks. The first is where Death grapples Dante. This is telegraphed by the screen going flush with a sort of gold colour for a moment. The second is an unblockable strike in which he stabs his scythe straight into the ground creating an area effect attack. This can be avoided by jumping, or by evading out of the area. Eventually, Death will fall to his knees, allowing the player to finish him and execute a finisher to end the first boss encounter. Dante's Journal * Despite the fact that he has become synonymous with realms such as Hell in contemporary culture, Death never makes an appearance of any sort in Dante's Divine Comedy. * Since people continued to die after Dante's battle with Death, Death's apparent destruction could have been exaggerated and he simply moved on to the next soul that is destined to die. * In the original poem, Dante encounters the soul of Guido Da Montefeltro, who makes mention of a "black angel," that took him to Hell not long after his death. The black angel is generally interpreted to be a demon, but could easily be interpreted as Death, or the "Grim Reaper" by modern readers. Given the horns incorporated into Death's design in EA's Dante's Inferno (and wings in early promotion material), it's likely that Death was intended to be a reference to both the Grim Reaper and the black angel of Canto XXVII. * Although the track to Death's battle is called "Battle With Adraman" there's no background information regarding the name. It could be suspected to be related to the name 'Ahriman, a figure in Zoroastrianism who is believed by some authors to be related to Satan. Gallery Dantes-Inferno-001.jpg DeathStab.jpg The Death of Death.jpg death-dantes-inferno-game-character.jpg DeathOfDante.jpg Death Battle.jpg DeathStrike.jpg Death Slash.jpg death.jpg Latorre.jpg|Death's death by Diego Latorre in Dante's inferno comic Trivia * Dante may not have actually destroyed Death during their encounter since people continued to die afterwards. It is possible that Dante simply weakened him enough to dispel him and drive him away. This can be further supported by the fact that Dante had been dead since the beginning of the game, when he was stabbed in the back, meaning that Death was right when he said no one can cheat death. ** Although in contrary, Charon and King Minos both mention that Dante has "cheated Death once already", however, this might simply refer to how he is exempt from how dead ones are normally processed. ** A theory suggests Death has an avatar form or a humanoid body host, which can make sense of why he was killed by Dante. ** Originally, Death cannot be killed since they are amortal: the power to '''exist in a state of unbirth. * Death, due to its prominent place in human culture, is frequently imagined as a personified force, also known as the Grim Reaper. In some mythologies, the Grim Reaper causes the victim's death by coming to collect them. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. * In Greek Mythology, Death is personified as the entity Thanatos. Thanatos is mentioned as being the twin of Hypnos (Sleep), and a brother of the ferryman Charon. His residence is established as being located within the Underworld or Hades, which as the final resting place for all mortal souls might explain Death's usual associations with the Judeo-Christian Hell (as the original books of the Bible were translated from the Greek Septuagint). Death is also explicitly mentioned in the Book of Revelations to being linked to Hell, as shown in Revelations 6 Verse 8: "Then I looked, and saw a pale horse. Its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague and by the beasts of the earth." Thanatos was further described as being immovable and ruthless in pursuit of souls. However, it was possible to cheat and escape him, as shown in the myth of King Sisyphus, who managed to chain Thanatos to a chair for 13 months when the death god came to claim the king. * Some depictions of Death are described as being female, such as Saint Death (Santa Muerte), the Slavic goddess Marzanna and the Greek Fate Atropos. Modern cultural versions of a female Death include the mysterious woman from the short story "The Appointment at Samara," the character Rem from the manga series "Death Note", as well as author Neil Gaiman's own interpretation of Death from "The Sandman" comic series. * Jewish tradition also refers to Death as the Angel of Dark and Light, a name which stems from Talmudic lore. As such, Death has two appearances: for the souls of the good Death looked like a beautiful and soothing being. However, for the wicked Death appeared as a terrifying specter. Death has also been depicted in Jewish lore as a mighty, twelve-winged angel who bears a unique sword for claiming souls (as opposed to the more well-known scythe). Instead of swinging the blade, when at the side of a dying human Death uses this sword to administer a fatal dose of gall, bringing the victim's life to an end. ** Also in Jewish tradition, Azrael is an angel responsible to take the lives of mortals and is known as "The Angel of Death", filling the role of the Grim Reaper. * In Hindu mythology, there are many forms of reapers, although some say there is only one who disguises himself as a small child. These reapers are called Yamadutas and carry souls back to the netherworld. * In Japanese mythology, there are entities known as Shinigami (死神; literally "Death God"), which are closer to the Western tradition of the Grim Reaper. While common in modern Japanese arts and fiction, they were essentially absent in traditional mythology. * In Korean mythology, the equivalent of the Grim Reaper is the "Netherworld Emissary" Jeoseung-saja (저승사자). A psychopomp, he escorts all—good or evil—from the land of the living to the netherworld when the time comes. * Death was voiced by Richard Moll and Dee Bradley Baker in the English version of the game and Norio Wakamoto in the Japanese version. * He has never made any appearance in Dante's Divine Comedy, despite it being about the realms of the afterlife. Category:Characters Category:Bosses Category:Shores of Acheron